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Lot Essay
This is one of the remarkable sequence of capricci with celebrated Venetian monuments commissioned by Joseph Smith in 1743-4 as overdoors for Palazzo Balbi. That Canaletto signed many of these, as he had the six large views of Rome executed for Smith in 1742, suggests the importance the artist attached to the series and, no doubt, his recognition that capricci, in which an artist’s powers of invention were demonstrated, were by many of his contemporaries considered to be works of a higher order than mere views.
The church of the Redentore on the Giudecca was one of Palladio’s signal achievements. Construction began in 1577 but the church was only completed in 1592, after Palladio’s death, by Antonio Da Ponte. The church had a significant place in the ceremonial life of La Serenissima and its architectural influence was considerable. On the right are three monuments of classical Rome, two of the three extant columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Forum, the top of the Capitoline obelisk seen between these and, to their left in the distance, the Arch of Titus, the first and third of which appear prominently in two of the large Roman views painted for Smith (Constable, op. cit., nos. 378 and 386). As one of the major sites of Venice, the Redentore was the subject of several views by Canaletto. The earliest is probably that in the Woburn series (Constable, op. cit., no 316) which shows the church from somewhat further to the west, as does the picture formerly in the Ednam and Dorrance collections (Constable, op. cit., no. 317). Of the four pictures of the church from just to the left, all differ subtly from each other: one from a viewpoint very slightly to the left of that adopted for this capriccio (Constable, op. cit., no. 318***) and others from points progressively but only slightly further to the left (Constable, op. cit., nos. 318, 318* and 318**). Closer to the viewpoint in this picture is the drawing of a capriccio with the church flanked by different buildings in the Fogg Art Museum (Constable, op. cit., no. 775) which was engraved by Fabio Berardi. What the subtle changes in the relationship of the elements of Palladio’s design in these pictures demonstrates is Canaletto’s remarkable ability to comprehend the physical form of the structures he depicted.
Smith himself had a serious interest in architecture. He was the patron not only of Canaletto but of Antonio Visentini, who would collaborate with Francesco Zuccarelli for a series of fanciful views of Palladian buildings for him which were executed in 1746, the year of Canaletto’s departure for London. The consul commissioned the remarkable series of drawings of Venetian buildings now with the greater part of his library in the British Library and may well have helped John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute to recruit architectural draftsmen for the series of drawings of buildings in Venice and on the terra firma now in the Victoria & Albert Museum. As an Englishman of Whig persuasion he was inevitably an admirer of Palladio. So it should come as no surprise that when he sought to complement his views by Canaletto and pictures by other artists with a series of overdoors placing Venetian buildings in fanciful settings, all Palladio’s major buildings in the city were represented, as was his arresting, if abortive, project for the Rialto Bridge. In his inventory of the pictures sold to the King, Smith described the set as follows:
85-97, 13 Door Pieces are the principal Buildings of Palladio which are particularized in a note apart
The ‘note apart’ reads:
No. 85-97 are thirteen pieces over doors, painted by Antonio Canale, and contain the following most admired Buildings in Venice, elegantly Historiz’d with Figures and adjacency to the Painter’s Fancy.
No. 1. The Design given by Palladio for the Rialto Bridge.
2. The Loggetta by Sansovino.
3. The Cloister at Convento della Carità.
4. The grand Stair called de Giganti.
5. The Corner (3 arches) of the Library of St. Mark by Sansovino.
6. The Bridge at the Fish Market at S. Mark’s on the 2 Pedestals are placed 2 Colossal Statues by Titian Ospetti which now stand obscurely behind the doors of the entrance to the Zecca.
7. The Piazzetta with the 3 Standards now standing before the Church of S. Mark.
8. The Façade of the Church of S. Giorgio Maggiore by Palladio.
9. The Publick Prison at St. Mark’s.
10. The Church (the Façade) of S. Francesco della Vigna by Palladio.
11. The Church of the Redentore by ditto.
12. St Mark’s Church before which (instead of the 3 Pedestals and Standards removed to the Piazzetta are here seen the 4 Horses and elegant Pedestals with allusive ornaments.
13. Façade of the Church of S, Gio. Et Paolo with the Equestrian Statue of Bartolomei Colleone. (Constable, op. cit., under no. 465)
So far as the compiler is aware, no attempt has yet been made to establish how the overdoors were arranged, in what were presumably the main rooms on the piano nobile of Palazzo Balbi, which Smith had leased since about 1709 and bought in 1740, calling in Visentini to rebuild the gothic façade in the fashionable Palladian taste. This reconstruction was only completed in October 1751, but the commission for the overdoors suggests that Smith had already updated at least some of the interiors, and indeed the selection of subjects for his earlier series of views of the Grand Canal may well imply that these were intended to be hung in a specific room overlooking the canal. Smith’s list and the direction of the light in the traceable overdoors—of which at least eight and probably nine remain in the Royal Collection, while two in addition to this work are known and one, of Sansovino’s Loggietta has as yet to surface—would seem to offer evidence about the intended arrangement of these. In the order of Smith’s list, numbers 1 and 4-7 are lit from the left and 3 and 8-13 from the right. It might seem logical to deduce that overdoors lit from the right were intended to be on walls lit by windows from the right and those lit from the left for walls lit from the left. Equally on walls with two overdoors these are likely to have been lit from the same direction. Until the second on Smith’s list, the view with the Loggietta, is traced some element of doubt must exist, but the last two on this, 12, the Doge’s Palace with the bronze horses, and 13, dominated by the Colleone Monument, seem to make a very convincing pair; and this capriccio would similarly pair very satisfactorily with the preceding number 10 on the list, representing the façade of another major church by Palladio, S. Francesco della Vigna.
King George III clearly paid a close attention to the hanging of his pictures (see for example, F. Russell, ‘King George III’s picture hang at Buckingham House’, The Burlington Magazine, CXXIX, October 1987, pp. 524-31) and seems to have had the capricci that he retained placed at either St. James’s Palace or at Kensington (see M. Levey, The Later Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London, 1964, pp. 64-6, under nos. 408-16). It is no doubt revealing of his personal taste that this view of the Redentore with those of S. Francesco della Vigna and the Loggietta were disposed of and the King may well have been put off by the subject of number 9, the Prigioni.
The church of the Redentore on the Giudecca was one of Palladio’s signal achievements. Construction began in 1577 but the church was only completed in 1592, after Palladio’s death, by Antonio Da Ponte. The church had a significant place in the ceremonial life of La Serenissima and its architectural influence was considerable. On the right are three monuments of classical Rome, two of the three extant columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Forum, the top of the Capitoline obelisk seen between these and, to their left in the distance, the Arch of Titus, the first and third of which appear prominently in two of the large Roman views painted for Smith (Constable, op. cit., nos. 378 and 386). As one of the major sites of Venice, the Redentore was the subject of several views by Canaletto. The earliest is probably that in the Woburn series (Constable, op. cit., no 316) which shows the church from somewhat further to the west, as does the picture formerly in the Ednam and Dorrance collections (Constable, op. cit., no. 317). Of the four pictures of the church from just to the left, all differ subtly from each other: one from a viewpoint very slightly to the left of that adopted for this capriccio (Constable, op. cit., no. 318***) and others from points progressively but only slightly further to the left (Constable, op. cit., nos. 318, 318* and 318**). Closer to the viewpoint in this picture is the drawing of a capriccio with the church flanked by different buildings in the Fogg Art Museum (Constable, op. cit., no. 775) which was engraved by Fabio Berardi. What the subtle changes in the relationship of the elements of Palladio’s design in these pictures demonstrates is Canaletto’s remarkable ability to comprehend the physical form of the structures he depicted.
Smith himself had a serious interest in architecture. He was the patron not only of Canaletto but of Antonio Visentini, who would collaborate with Francesco Zuccarelli for a series of fanciful views of Palladian buildings for him which were executed in 1746, the year of Canaletto’s departure for London. The consul commissioned the remarkable series of drawings of Venetian buildings now with the greater part of his library in the British Library and may well have helped John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute to recruit architectural draftsmen for the series of drawings of buildings in Venice and on the terra firma now in the Victoria & Albert Museum. As an Englishman of Whig persuasion he was inevitably an admirer of Palladio. So it should come as no surprise that when he sought to complement his views by Canaletto and pictures by other artists with a series of overdoors placing Venetian buildings in fanciful settings, all Palladio’s major buildings in the city were represented, as was his arresting, if abortive, project for the Rialto Bridge. In his inventory of the pictures sold to the King, Smith described the set as follows:
85-97, 13 Door Pieces are the principal Buildings of Palladio which are particularized in a note apart
The ‘note apart’ reads:
No. 85-97 are thirteen pieces over doors, painted by Antonio Canale, and contain the following most admired Buildings in Venice, elegantly Historiz’d with Figures and adjacency to the Painter’s Fancy.
No. 1. The Design given by Palladio for the Rialto Bridge.
2. The Loggetta by Sansovino.
3. The Cloister at Convento della Carità.
4. The grand Stair called de Giganti.
5. The Corner (3 arches) of the Library of St. Mark by Sansovino.
6. The Bridge at the Fish Market at S. Mark’s on the 2 Pedestals are placed 2 Colossal Statues by Titian Ospetti which now stand obscurely behind the doors of the entrance to the Zecca.
7. The Piazzetta with the 3 Standards now standing before the Church of S. Mark.
8. The Façade of the Church of S. Giorgio Maggiore by Palladio.
9. The Publick Prison at St. Mark’s.
10. The Church (the Façade) of S. Francesco della Vigna by Palladio.
11. The Church of the Redentore by ditto.
12. St Mark’s Church before which (instead of the 3 Pedestals and Standards removed to the Piazzetta are here seen the 4 Horses and elegant Pedestals with allusive ornaments.
13. Façade of the Church of S, Gio. Et Paolo with the Equestrian Statue of Bartolomei Colleone. (Constable, op. cit., under no. 465)
So far as the compiler is aware, no attempt has yet been made to establish how the overdoors were arranged, in what were presumably the main rooms on the piano nobile of Palazzo Balbi, which Smith had leased since about 1709 and bought in 1740, calling in Visentini to rebuild the gothic façade in the fashionable Palladian taste. This reconstruction was only completed in October 1751, but the commission for the overdoors suggests that Smith had already updated at least some of the interiors, and indeed the selection of subjects for his earlier series of views of the Grand Canal may well imply that these were intended to be hung in a specific room overlooking the canal. Smith’s list and the direction of the light in the traceable overdoors—of which at least eight and probably nine remain in the Royal Collection, while two in addition to this work are known and one, of Sansovino’s Loggietta has as yet to surface—would seem to offer evidence about the intended arrangement of these. In the order of Smith’s list, numbers 1 and 4-7 are lit from the left and 3 and 8-13 from the right. It might seem logical to deduce that overdoors lit from the right were intended to be on walls lit by windows from the right and those lit from the left for walls lit from the left. Equally on walls with two overdoors these are likely to have been lit from the same direction. Until the second on Smith’s list, the view with the Loggietta, is traced some element of doubt must exist, but the last two on this, 12, the Doge’s Palace with the bronze horses, and 13, dominated by the Colleone Monument, seem to make a very convincing pair; and this capriccio would similarly pair very satisfactorily with the preceding number 10 on the list, representing the façade of another major church by Palladio, S. Francesco della Vigna.
King George III clearly paid a close attention to the hanging of his pictures (see for example, F. Russell, ‘King George III’s picture hang at Buckingham House’, The Burlington Magazine, CXXIX, October 1987, pp. 524-31) and seems to have had the capricci that he retained placed at either St. James’s Palace or at Kensington (see M. Levey, The Later Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London, 1964, pp. 64-6, under nos. 408-16). It is no doubt revealing of his personal taste that this view of the Redentore with those of S. Francesco della Vigna and the Loggietta were disposed of and the King may well have been put off by the subject of number 9, the Prigioni.